Eric Bautista, a 37-year-old commercial fisherman from Newport News, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to federal tax evasion, admitting he dodged more than $170,000 in income taxes over nearly a decade. Bautista, who worked as an independent contractor for multiple fishing operations across the Hampton Roads region, funneled earnings through cash transactions and a stolen identity to vanish from the IRS radar.
Court records show Bautista earned over $500,000 from January 2017 through December 2020. Despite this substantial income, he failed to file U.S. Individual Income Tax returns for every year from 2012 through 2020. When the IRS moved to levy his account, Bautista didn’t comply—he vanished deeper into the underground economy, relying on cash payments and false identification to keep his earnings hidden.
Authorities say Bautista’s scheme wasn’t sloppy desperation but calculated evasion. By working under someone else’s identity and refusing to deposit income through traceable banking channels, he systematically blocked federal auditors from linking the money to him. The IRS Criminal Investigation unit eventually cracked the trail, revealing a deliberate pattern of concealment that spanned years and jurisdictions.
Bautista now faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. While actual sentences often fall below the statutory maximum, federal judges weigh the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors heavily. Sentencing is scheduled for June 24 before a federal district court judge, following the plea’s acceptance by U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller.
The case was announced by Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Darrell J. Waldon, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Washington D.C. Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian J. Samuels is prosecuting, underscoring the federal government’s sharpened focus on financial crimes that erode public revenue streams.
Court documents and related records are available through the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and on PACER under Case No. 4:22-cr-95. A copy of the Department of Justice press release is posted on the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Related Federal Cases
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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